PASADENA — Juwan Rice was all over the court — nearly recording a quadruple-double — as the Occidental men's basketball team outran Caltech 90-81 in front of a packed house in the 1st Annual 110 Freeway Rivalry Game.
The Tigers open the season 1-0. Caltech falls to 0-1.
Rice scored 20 points, grabbed nine rebounds, dished out eight assists and had eight steals. He showed incredible anticipation at the back of Oxy's press and once he picked off passes, he looked like a track star sprinting downhill all the way to the basket with an avalanche of speed.
"Juwan played with incredible pace and effort tonight," Oxy head coach Brian Newhall said. "His speed and our team speed will be one of our biggest strengths all year."
Rice went 7 for 15 from the field, including 1 for 2 from downtown and had just two turnovers.
After falling behind 11-4, Oxy surged back and never relinquished the lead. The Tigers led by double digits for a good portion of the first half and some of the second.
"Caltech just keeps getting better and better. Dr. Oliver Eslinger and athletic director Betsy Mitchell have done an incredible job with this program," Newhall said. "We had a packed house and an incredible atmosphere tonight for our players. We're looking forward to the next chapter in this rivalry."
Caltech cut Oxy's lead to four points with 5:59 remaining in the game on two free throws from KcEmezie, but Jay Miller responded with a layup, Spencer Levy hit a pair of 3-pointers on consecutive possessions and then Austin Hawk iced the game with one of his three 3-pointers with 2:29 left, giving Oxy a 82-71 lead.
Hawk, sophomore transfer from San Diego Christian, finished with 14 points and five assists.
The Tigers had five players in double figures. Along with Rice and Hawk, freshman Taylor Waltonscored 16 in his college debut, Andrew Johnson had 12 points and eight rebounds off of the bench and JJ Friedman added 10 points.
Levy scored nine points on 3 for 6 shooting from beyond the arc.
Emezie led all scorers with 25 points for Caltech. Andrew Hogue had 17 points and 16 rebounds, energizing the crowd with a handful of hustle plays. The senior Caltech forward even banked in two 3-pointers and finished 4 for 10 from downtown.
The Tigers forced 20 turnovers at the defensive end and had 20 assists at the offensive end.
Oxy is back in action on Tuesday at NCAA Division II Azusa Pacific.